life to Him. I need help, for Satan tells me that I’m not saved." A. It is always Satan’s purpose to discourage and disappoint you so that you won’t enjoy your salvation. In this way your testimony and wit ness will be of little effect. That's exactly what Satan wants. We are saved, based upon the authority of God’s Word, because we have put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. By doubting your salvation, you are making a liar out of the Saviour. Don’t be alarmed if Satan tries to persuade you that you aren’t saved. It is typical of him. Put it aside. Trust the Lord. Don’t try to get an experience someone else has had. The Lord says that He is near by His Holy Spirit, indwelling the heart of the believer. Take Him at His Word. Your feelings may enter in but they don't need to. We don’t discount feel ings, but that’s not the essential part of the nearness of the Lord. We do not hear the Lord's voice audibly, but in our hearts by the Spirit. Q. Berkeley, Calif. — “When a believer in Christ comes to be judged, are his sins, which have previously been con fessed, going to be brought out into the open? I am so upset. I ’m scared to death to let people know the many sins I have committed.” A. If this were going to be the case, you would have real reason to be ap prehensive. The wonderful part is that after death, or at the rapture, when a believer appears before Christ, his sins already have been judged. The bema seat of the Sav iour is for rewards, when our deeds will be examined by fire. The con demnation for our sins were borne on Calvary’s cross. Our Lord died and rose again that we might have ever lasting life. Our present responsi bility is described in I John 1 :9. There is a need for confession and daily cleansing.
does teach, he edifies his people in doctrine and is fulfilling his God- given task (Eph. 4:11). Q. San Gabriel, Calif. — “Does Scrip ture state that children are saved until they reach the age of accounta bility? How does one know when that time has come?” A. No one can say when the age of accountability occurs. It differs in children. A child doesn’t have to un stand all of the great doctrines of the church in order to be saved. If that were true, a lot of grown-ups would never know eternal life. All of the invitations of the Bible are for an intelligent decision. When one does not have the awareness of the issues, they are covered by the aton ing blood of our Lord. Christ said in Matthew 18:10, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heav en.” The implication here is that God has entrusted the welfare, both physi cal and spiritual, of little ones into the hands of angels. Hebrews 1 :14 says, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salva tion?” (See the note on page 1311 in the New Scofield Bible.) Children then are saved in the sense that since they cannot make a rational deci sion, Christ in His infinite grace and the efficacy of His work His grace covers them. No one knows when that time has come. David said so con fidently of his deceased infant son: “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” Q. North Highland, Calif. — “People talk of the Lord’s nearness. They speak of the voice of the Lord, but I don’t hear this. I would like to know what’s wrong. I ’ve asked Christ into my heart and have dedicated my
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